Losing to India not a disgrace: England boss Rob Key calls Rohit Sharma's team 'best in the world'

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Managing Director addressed the loss against India in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024. He said that it wasn't a bad sign and disgrace to lose against the Rohit Sharma-led side, who are the best in the world.

England's campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 ended after they suffered a thrashing loss against India in the semi-final of the tournament. The defending champions looked clueless with the bat and ball as the Men in Blue cashed in all the opportunities to advance to the final.

England opted to field first and they failed to build on to the momentum after that. India skipper Rohit Sharma played a blistering innings of 57 runs while Suryakumar Yadav (47) supported him well as India posted 171 runs.

With England being the defending champions, it was expected that they would put up a fight but it was a torrid display from them with the bat. They couldn't get going at all as Indian spinners were all over them and made them look clueless.

England got all out for 101 and lost the game by 68 runs. The defending champions didn't have the kind of outing they would've wanted in the tournament. They came under pressure at times too but managed to reach the semi-final. But after that loss, they have come under a lot of scanner for their poor outing.

Rob Key admitted that fans are disappointed but it wasn't as bad. He highlighted that the team played well but also admitted they were inconsistent. Speaking in an interaction with Wisden, he explained:

"I don't think it's a bad sign when you get into a semi-final and you're almost slightly disappointed with that as I sort of imagine almost everyone is [including] players, coaching staff. At times I thought we showed how good we were in there and at times we were inconsistent."

I don't think it's any disgrace really to lose to India - Rob Key

Rob Key further claimed that losing to India isn't a disgrace as they are the best team in the world. He said that Australia and South Africa are chasing them too. The ECB Director also stated that they could've won the game against India. He added:

"And I don't think it's any disgrace really to lose to India. I think they are very much the mark now. They have been the best team in world cricket across all formats for a couple of years now and everyone else is chasing them, along with Australia, and South Africa. I thought that was a game (the semi-final) we could have won as well, which would have put us in a slightly different position," he concluded.

It remains to be seen what will be the future of the England team going ahead. They are likely to go through the transition and some of the big names are set to be dropped from the team.